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A Peaceful Transition

To many people around the world right now, this election’s results were horrifying. The rug was ripped out from beneath their feet. They feel like they are in free fall. They feel like the world doesn’t make sense, and they don’t know what to do. If you’re one of these people, like I was this morning, I have the answer for you:

You stand back up.

That’s what you do when you get knocked down. If you get thrown from a horse, you get back on. Same with a motorcycle. You don’t let fear and failure define your life. You do not run away from your problems. When the sewer is backed up, you grab a pair of gloves, pull them on, and get to work.

It’s easy to look at our problems and say, “these are insurmountable”. It doesn’t require any extra effort, and is the path of least resistance. So you’ll see people claiming that they will move to Canada. Or that they are done with politics, and done with trying. You’ll see blame thrown around, at the DNC, at third party candidates, Hillary Clinton, and at other voters too.

Don’t let it happen to you.

You have a choice, right now. The world is watching. We can behave like spoiled children, or we can work together, across party lines and across our differences, to ensure safety, honor, integrity, and respect are maintained.

We don’t need to make America Great again. We just need to remember why we’re great in the first place.

I did not support Donald Trump, for a myriad of reasons. But the people of this country spoke, and according to the results, they want him to be President of the United States. That makes him my President, and our President. I love politics, but I did not like this campaign. But it was surely hard fought, and hard won. Congratulations, President-Elect Trump. I hope you have the courage to do what is right, and the strength to do what is necessary.

To my fellow citizens, I would say: Don’t demonize the opposition. It’s too easy to say, “Only idiots voted for x Candidate”, or to try and separate yourself from them based on imaginary lines and apply blame to those who chose differently than you. Don’t call supporters, “Idiots”, or “Dumb”, or “Uneducated”, or “Racist”, or “Misogynist”, or “Cuck”, or whatever other titles you might be imagining for those who voted differently than you.

We all have friends and family members that might not feel as safe as they did Tuesday morning. Women we know who worry about health care, men who worry about their jobs. It is our job, our duty, and our privilege to stand up together, at this moment in history, and make sure that we do everything we can to ensure our fellow Americans get the respect they deserve. This is not a time to fight – that time is past. Now is a time to come together, in the areas we can agree on, (and those areas do exist) for the common good of our country.

Because it’s not “My” country, it’s not “your” country, and it isn’t “their” country. This is OUR country, and we have to make it work together.

So, with the sun rising, I look forward to a brighter future, even if we have to weather some storms to get there. We’ll make it through, so long as we weather them together.